


What Would You Say? What Would You Do?

by fruitygelpens



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Major Character Injury, Pining Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 22:52:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9570335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruitygelpens/pseuds/fruitygelpens
Summary: Lance's facial expressions always seemed to affect Keith's heart in the strangest ways. When he was glowering at him, his heart felt like poison spreading through his chest. When he smiled at him, his heart fluttered with affection and he couldn't breathe. But this...this look of unimaginable pain on his face, it made Keith's heart die.In which Lance gets injured during a mission and Keith lets some things slip.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first /ever/ fic, so I'm super excited to finally upload it. I loosely based this fic off of the song Sun by Two Door Cinema Club, ha hah...but yea!!! uuuuuuuh I hope it's good-ish I tried my best!!!

Stealth missions were typically easy to manage for Keith. Infiltrate the ship, obtain the information, and report back to the team—that's all there was to it. Of course, this was all without being caught. No big deal, Keith could handle it on his own. Except this time he wasn't on his own. Unfortunately, he was going on this mission with Lance.

 

Being accompanied during such a task almost defeats the purpose of stealthiness. The whole way to the Galra ship, all Keith could think about was how much easier it would be to do this mission by himself. And of all people to be paired up with, it had to be Lance?? Lance was the opposite of stealthy–he was loud and had to make his presence known whenever he entered a room. Keith wished that he had at least been paired up with someone else.

 

Not to mention how illogically distracting Lance seemed to be. It was as though Keith's gaze gravitated towards him as often as possible. Why? Keith didn't like to think about it–his heart would start thundering inside his chest and he'd start blushing like crazy every time he did. It interfered with Keith's focus, which as a result, only made him more annoyed with Lance.

 

Pidge had blessed the rest of the paladins by upgrading their lions with invisibility cloaks that Keith activated as they approached the Galra ship. He settled his lion on the underside of the ship and used Red's jawblade to cut out an opening for them. "Nice," Lance muttered–the first time either of them had verbally communicated during the mission.

 

As quietly as a giant robotic lion could be, Keith maneuvered his lion inside the ship and promptly parked it inside. Keith felt a mild wave of comfort wash over him when Red put up her forcefield as they ejected from the cockpit. Looking around, they found surprisingly no sentries nearby. Keith could almost say this was starting out pretty smoothly, however the lack of enemy presence only raised his guard even more.

 

Lance pulled up the map to where they needed to get to. Keith took a moment to study the concentrated look on his face. He had a sense of calmness about him, but the deep focus in his eyes was enough to make Keith's heart flutter. Yeah, okay, he might have a serious thing for Lance. He could feel himself losing focus on the mission the longer he stared at the him. Keith forcefully shook himself out of his fixation.

 

Lance's attention turned to Keith. Keith's heart stuttered when those deep blue eyes made contact with his. "Okay we need to go right and then turn left on the second corridor." Keith nodded affirmatively as Lance raced ahead of him, Keith following suit. Lance was taking things seriously for once. As odd as it was, it made Keith's cheeks turn pink. He was glad Lance couldn't see the flustered look on his face.

 

Once the hallway began to narrow, Lance and Keith started spotting sentries stalking down the corridors in small packs. Keith had remembered the strategy Shiro taught him to avoiding the sentries and grabbed Lance to duck behind a wall. While Keith counted their footsteps in hiding, he hadn't realized he was still clutching Lance's arm. Only when the coast was clear did he catch himself, letting go instantly. 

 

They began to fall into a pattern as they continued toward their goal. Keith was impressed with how this mission was progressing, and even more with his and Lance's cooperation. Shiro would be proud. Keith snapped out of his train of thought when Lance slowed slightly, "Okay, the control room should be just around this corner." To Keith's dismay, Lance turned and flashed a grin at him, making his heart soar and lodge in his throat. But it was merely a moment before they continued at a faster rate towards their destination.

 

It was a good thing Lance was so focused, because Keith was apparently not. When they reached the control room, Keith began to march in when Lance gripped his shoulder and yanked him backwards. "What are you doing??" he hissed, "There could be Galra in there!" God, Keith was stupid, wasn't he? If it wasn't for Lance distracting him with his gorgeous eyes and radiant smile— _nope_ nope nope nope nope.

 

Lance stealthily (surprisingly stealthily) peeked inside the room. Sure enough, it was occupied. Inside their were two Galra soldiers reporting to someone of a higher rank. "How are we going to get in there??" Keith whispered next to Lance's ear.

 

"Let's just wait a few ticks, I think they might be leaving," Lance whispered back. Instinctively, they both trained their ears on the conversation inside the control room.

 

"—And the quintessence is being sent to the Universal Hub, sir."

 

"Excellent, I will let Haggar know immediately. Come on."

 

As the footsteps of the Galra picked up, Lance brought his hand to Keith's chest to push both of them further against the wall. Keith hated how his chest burned where his hand was. The Galra and his soldiers marched out of the room away from Keith and Lance. Every step they took brought on a wave of relief. When the coast was clear, Lance and Keith ducked into the control room.

 

"Guard the door, I'll take care of this," Lance practically ordered. Keith gave him an affirmative grunt as he watched the door like a hawk, his grip on his bayard fierce. It was these parts of stealth missions that could afford to have some company. When you're alone, you're defenseless while gathering intel. It always made Keith's anxiety spike. So he was going to make sure Lance's back was protected while he was doing his job.

 

Keith's peripheral vision caught the flashing red on the screen behind him. "What??" Lance cried, typing frantically on the foreign keyboard. Again, the screen flashed its disapproving red glare. "Gah, I can't read this alien gibberish!" Keith abandoned his post to wander over to the screen.

 

"No, no. You're doing it all wrong," Keith had done this before. He pressed the buttons with vaguely familiar symbols. But it didn't budge, the red flashes were practically laughing in his face.

 

Lance shoved him aside and continued pressing random buttons. "No YOU'RE doing it wrong," he grumbled. Keith's irritation was bubbling in his chest. Lance was just pushing all of the buttons on the keyboard now, and he was really starting to push Keith's buttons as well. 

 

"Stop! It's going to time out!" Keith shouted as he tried to regain control over the device. But Lance of course was a stubborn asshole, and he slapped Keith's hands away. Keith persisted, "Let me just try one more combination" he said through gritted teeth. Eventually he was manhandling him away from the keyboard, both hands gripping his shoulders.

 

"No way, you're just gonna get it wrong again!" Lance spat. Keith clutched his helmet in frustration. To think he even thought this mission would go relatively smoothly with Lance being such an insufferable baby! He jabbed each button angrily, letting his frustration show. Suddenly the screen lit up with approval, and Keith couldn't help the shit-eating grin he threw at Lance over his shoulder.

 

However, his moment of pride didn't last long when two Galra sentries and a drone entered the control room. Lance yelped as Keith rose to action and drew his bayard. On instinct, he charged at the sentries, slicing one in half with one fatal swing of his bayard and stabbing the other through the chest. Keith took a moment to relish his victory until Lance stalked over to him.

 

"You idiot! The drone got away, now the Galra will know we're here!" Lance screamed at him.

 

"Well maybe it wouldn't have if you had done something and shot it down!" Keith retaliated, stepping closer to Lance. Rage began to build in his chest.

 

"If you had actually guarded the door, this wouldn't have happened!"

 

"I was trying to help your sorry ass figure out the controls! And I actually got it working, no thanks to you!"

 

"Well now the situation just got a whole lot worse, and we may not even get the information!"

 

Keith spun around and looked at the screen. The loading bar showed that the intel was only 41% downloaded. He looked back at Lance glowering at him and crossed his arms, "Then I guess we're just going to have to hold out until it finishes."

 

Lance rolled his eyes with his whole body–he was so infuriatingly animated. He glared at Keith, exasperated, "You're such a pain in the ass, you know! We were going to get through this mission easy peasy, but _nooooo_! You just had to be impulsive and—" Lance was interrupted by a group of Galra soldiers entering the control room, their weapons aimed at Keith and Lance.

 

The Galra didn't hesitate before firing at them, their gunfire difficult to dodge in such a small space. Keith and Lance dove in opposite directions as they activated their bayards. Lance, completely giving up on being discrete anymore, began returning fire at the soldiers. Keith could only do so much with his close-range weapon. He activated his shield to block the shots being fired at him as he tried to approach them and fight back.

 

When he was in range, Keith slashed furiously at their perpetrators. Their guns were useless against him in a close-range fight, and he took out Galra soldiers left and right like it was nothing. Keith let himself be lost in the heat of battle, the pettiness of his argument with Lance washing off of him. Lance was at least courteous enough to avoid Keith in his line of fire as he helped take out more Galra soldiers.

 

Keith didn't notice when the shots coming from his end of the field faltered and died off. Only when he had finished off their first wave of soldiers did he tune in on the uncharacteristic silence behind him. Keith spun around and stared in horror at Lance, who was splayed out across the ground in pain. "Lance!" Quickly, Keith rushed over and kneeled above Lance's body.

 

His face that had earlier been twisted with anger–and even earlier been bright with confidence, was now twitching with unbearable pain, struggling to remain conscious. Keith gazed down to find the place of injury, which he found was in his shoulder. He had been hit by the gunfire, and the result was ugly. It cut deep through his armor–Keith could see blood starting to seep from the wound. Lance's facial expressions always seemed to affect Keith's heart in the strangest ways. When he was glowering at him, his heart felt like poison spreading through his chest. When he smiled at him, his heart fluttered with affection and he couldn't breathe. But this...this look of unimaginable pain on his face, it made Keith's heart die.

 

Adrenaline rushed through Keith as he took in the sight of Lance's condition. He glanced at the screen above him and saw that the intel was 97% downloaded. Keith wanted to scream at it to go faster. He looked back down at his teammate when he felt him shift. "Lance?" he spoke softly.

 

Lance's eyes fluttered open, and Keith was lost in his gaze when he spoke. "I...hah, shit...is it finished downloading yet?" Keith shook his head and caressed the sides of Lance's face with his hands. Lance leaned into the touch. He knew it didn't mean anything, but Keith couldn't help the blush on his cheeks despite it.

 

"It's almost there, then we can get you to a healing pod," Keith attempted to reassure him, mindlessly rubbing his thumbs over Lance's cheeks. Lance's gaze softened and his eyes were fluttering closed again. Panic arose in Keith's chest and he lightly shook Lance awake. "Stay with me, Lance."

 

Keith's attention was diverted by the sound the the device made as the intel finished downloading. Pidge promptly came onto the mic, "Download successful. How is everything over there?" Keith's jaw clenched as he stared down at Lance's face. Despite his injury, he was looking up at him quite sweetly through his long eyelashes. _Not good,_ he thought _._

 

"Uhm..." God it hurt to say it. "Lance is injured...he's been shot." Keith swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to maintain his composure, but he was shaking all over at the sound of Pidge exclaiming on the other end. "I'm taking him back to my lion now. Set up a healing pod at the castle."

 

"Roger!" Keith heard a click after that, implying Pidge had hung up. It would've probably been a lot better if Pidge had stayed on the line, but Keith tried his best to swallow his anxiety as he looked back down at the boy he was so hopelessly in love with.

 

Wait. Shit. _In love with?_ Is that what was really going on?? No, Keith thought, he couldn't think about this now. He buried the thought with his anxiety.

 

"I'm going to lift you up now, okay?" Keith spoke softly to Lance as he repositioned his arms. Lance whined when his hands left his face, but he nodded ever so slightly, letting Keith know he was ready. Careful not to hurt Lance, Keith lifted him into his arms and stood up. They both grunted when they changed position. Lance winced and squeezed his eyes shut, but opened them back up to look at Keith. For a moment, Keith forgot about how heavy Lance was as he looked back into Lance's eyes. They were so pretty...nope, nope nope, Keith shook all the gushy thoughts out of his head as he started walking.

 

By now everyone on the ship knew the paladins were there, and alarms were blaring in all of the corridors. Keith couldn't fight like this, so the remainder of the mission was no longer stealth, but evasion. Sentries charged down the hallways as Keith attempted to run with all the extra weight. It was difficult to move quickly and avoid jostling the other paladin's body too much. Keith was extra sensitive to all the little grunts Lance let out as they struggled to get back to his lion.

 

Keith was getting tired of moving erratically down every twist and turn to avoid gunfire when Red was finally in sight. Except there was an issue: his lion was completely surrounded by Galra soldiers. Panicking, Keith tried to come up with a plan while there were even more Galra approaching his behind. He had a thought, but it was a bit risky. However, it was better than running headfirst into an army of Galra soldiers unarmed.

 

Carefully, Keith let Lance down near the wall. "Sorry Lance, I'll be back for you soon." Before he could really think about it, Keith leaned down and planted a kiss on his chin. Lance looked at him with those glistening eyes, gaze softening as he drifted off. By god, Lance was going to be the death of him.

 

Filled with adrenaline. Keith stood and drew his bayard before the assemblage of Galra soldiers in front of him. He was determined to get the both of them out of here alive at all cost. Keith let out a yell as he charged toward his opponents.

 

Most of them were sentries, which he cut through with his blade as smooth as butter. But others were more aggressive, and came at him with flying fists and gunfire. Keith fought against it all like it was a dance, dodging a punch before leaping up to strike down on his opponent's skull. Eventually, he gave up on his textbook fighting strategies and flung his sword out to his left, striking through the faces of three Galra soldiers. From there, it was all fists for Keith. And here and there he would extend his leg out to kick someone in the chest. Keith liked fighting this way–it allowed him to let out his emotions to the fullest extent. And boy, was Keith feeling a lot.

 

Keith had managed to clear the room a fair amount that would allow the two of them to escape safely. He spun around to go grab his fellow paladin when his heart stuttered. A Galra soldier was looming over Lance, gripping his injured soldier and digging his claws into the wound. Lance was wailing in pain, writhing as the Galra continued to make him suffer. Oh, Keith was pissed.

 

Swiftly, Keith pulled his bayard out of the corpse laying on the ground and stalked dangerously towards the perpetrator. With fire in his eyes, Keith chucked his sword at the soldier. The pointed tip made contact with his neck and he was thrown backwards, pinned against the wall by his throat. Ruthlessly, he pulled his bayard from the Galra's neck, never breaking eye contact with him. He slowly slid to the floor with a dull thud.

 

Keith snapped out of his anger when he heard Lance whining on the ground next to him. Keith quickly crouched down above Lance and inspected his wound. Oh, it was bad. Those vicious claws had really done a number on his shoulder. It was practically torn apart and gushing out blood even through his suit. Keith wanted to hurl.

 

"Keith..." Lance called out softly in his crumpled state. Yea, Keith really wanted to hurl.

 

"Okay...okay, you're going to be okay," Keith was trying to console Lance, though it seemed he was trying to console himself more. "Will you be okay if I lift you like I did before?"

 

Lance looked pained just at the thought of being lifted again, but he slowly nodded his head, letting out a shaky breath. "Yeah..." he sighed, "Just be careful." By god he would be.

 

Getting into a stance, Keith positioned his arms at either side of Lance's body, sneaking underside where he was laying. Before he attempted hoisting up his teammate's body, Keith stared at Lance's face for confirmation. Lance simply gave him a faint smile, which...wasn't all that good for the situation considering it made Keith weak at the knees. He tried to avoid touching his shoulder as much as possible as he ever-so-slowly lifted him off the ground. Lance's reaction was greater this time. He threw his head back and screamed before ducking into Keith's chest and whimpering. _Fuck_ , this was so bad.

 

The cries of pain coming from the other paladin were painful to Keith's ears as he stood up and began to walk them both over to Red. When he approached his lion, the forcefield degenerated as Red bowed down and opened her mouth, letting them aboard. When they reached the cockpit, Keith looked around for a place to put Lance down. He couldn't really put him on the floor, the ride would jostle him around too much. It was a hazard, but Keith settled for resting Lance in his lap while he piloted his lion.

 

"Keith..." Lance muttered against his chest. Keith shivered at the feeling of Lance's voice vibrating into him. Keith dared to look down at Lance. He shouldn't have, because there he was, staring at him all sweetly with his half-lidded eyes and his gentle smile. Keith's heart was gripping for dear life at his chest as his face flushed crimson.

 

"We're gonna get you back to the castle soon, Lance," Keith whispered reassuringly. Again, because Keith just couldn't help it, he planted a kiss on Lance's face. "I love you." Holy shit holy shit did he really just fucking say that _did he really just say that???_

 

But then Lance's expression grew ridiculously fond and–oh my god Keith was going to die. A strange sound rang through the cockpit suddenly, and it took Keith a minute to realize that it was coming from _Lance_ and it was him _laughing_. The giggle bubbled out from his chest as he leaned further into Keith's chest.

 

Nope. Nope. That's it, no more feelings, he had to fly Lance back to the castle before he either bled to death or before the Galra blew them up.

 

As more Galra troops flooded into the room, Keith flew them out of the ship and blasted away as fast as possible, avoiding the fire from the fleet that had formed outside. Keith tuned into his comm and reported to the rest of the team, "Leaving the ship now." He was met with affirmation from his teammates.

 

His heart was beating out of his chest as he maneuvered around the shots fired at them, firing some shots of his own. Keith could see the wormhole up ahead, and adrenaline rushed through him as he boosted towards it at lightning speed. It wasn't about taking out the fleet as much as it was escaping to safety and getting Lance into a healing pod. Keith gripped the steering with white knuckles, his jaw clenched as he sped towards the wormhole. Red was taking more damage as Keith focus more on flight than fight, the sound of the Galra's landing hits echoing in the cockpit. Lance was oblivious to all the commotion, curled up unconscious in his arms.

 

As the Red Lion passed through the wormhole, Keith let a wave of relief wash over him. He looked down at Lance, who's erratic breathing had slowed to soft little breaths escaping from his mouth as he rested his head against Keith's chest. Yeah, Keith thought. He was definitely in love with him.

 

The castle came into view and Red flew towards it on her own, letting Keith take the moment to rest. As they landed in the hangar, the other paladins plus Allura and Coran rushed into the room. Ever so carefully, Keith brought Lance outside the lion, wrapped securely in his arms. He felt a bit queasy when he saw the smear of Lance's blood on his suit.

 

Pidge was the first paladin to get a good look at Lance's wound, and she froze in her tracks at the sight, her eyes blinking wide. "God, he looks horrible," she cried. Hunk came up behind her to look before letting out a yelp and turning away. Right, Hunk doesn't like blood.

 

Shiro wore a brave face as he approached the two paladins and examined Lance's shoulder. "He needs to be taken to the infirmary immediately," he said, his voice level as he reached out to share Keith's hold on him. Keith was partially relieved to have some weight lifted, but a little part of him wanted to keep Lance cuddled up against his chest longer.

 

As they entered the infirmary, Coran approached them, "We need to tend to his wounds a bit before we can put him in a healing pod," he briefed. Coran turned his attention to Keith. "Shiro and I can handle it from here, you need to rest after a stressful mission, Keith." His brain immediately rejected the idea of leaving Lance's side, but he knew Coran was right. Reluctantly, he nodded and gave Lance one last look before making his way out of the infirmary.

 

Before Keith left, he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Shiro with a comforting look on his face. "Don't get too hung up about it, buddy. Lance'll be alright." Keith returned a grateful smile before Shiro let go of his shoulder. Keith would always appreciate Shiro's kind and reassuring gestures.

 

Keith let himself wander throughout the castle aimlessly. The silence was overwhelming in contrast to his brain, which was swimming with deafening thoughts. He let himself think about Lance. About himself and Lance. Back when they were in his lion...he meant what he said. About loving him. Sure, at times Lance was a thorn in his fucking side, but at other times when he was talking Keith through tough situations, or just _talking_ to him about whatever, he was one of the most important people in Keith's life. He'll always find himself entranced by the hue of Lance's eyes and how they practically sparkled whenever he was going on about something he's really passionate about. The way he smiled sent shivers down Keith's spine, and yeah, he loved him.

 

His fond thoughts transformed into thoughts of fear as something occurred to him: what would Lance _think_? And shit, he already confessed his love to him, what if he didn't feel the same? Worse, what if he totally hated Keith now? What if he thought he was disgusting and started avoiding him?? Keith walked into the open common space and began pacing, lacing his fingers in his hair and pulling. God, he was so stupid. Why did he have to confess his feelings?? Hell, he would've been fine remaining friends with his fellow paladin, but he might've just ruined that chance forever. Keith plopped down onto the couch and buried his head in his hands.

 

There was still hope that Lance wouldn't remember what happened. Yes, of course! Keith sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Lance was injured and in so much pain, Keith's words probably didn't even register. Maybe he could still be friends with him. Keith brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face into them, groaning out of the sheer misery of his situation.

 

"You alright there, buddy?"

 

Keith's head shot up at the sound of another person's voice. Hunk was standing in the doorway of the common area, his expression looked almost amused. Keith slumped down in his seat and turned to gaze at the wall instead. He didn't know if he could talk to anybody right now, he was a bit busy having a crisis.

 

Hunk stepped closer to the couch. "Hey, dude. Lance is going to be okay. It wasn't your fault, don't worry." He placed a hand on Keith's shoulder and rubbed his back as a comforting gesture. Keith let himself lean into the touch, but he lowered his head and grimaced.

 

"That's not what I'm worried about," Keith winced at his own words. "I-I mean, yes I'm worried about him. But that's not what's on my mind." He shrunk into his position, pulling his knees even closer into his chest. "It's fine." It was not fine.

 

The couch shifted as Hunk sat down next to him. "Did something happen out there? Other than Lance getting shot, I mean." Keith was eternally grateful for Hunk's strange ability to comfort others. He trusted Hunk, so he opened up.

 

"I...said something to Lance before we flew back to the castle," Keith started. Admitting it felt weird. "I...told him that I loved him." Keith squeezed his eyes closed, then opened them to look at Hunk's face. His eyes were wide, and the hand that was idly stroking Keith's back froze.

 

Hunk quickly regained his composure, though, and cleared his throat. "That's pretty heavy." Keith nodded and clasped his hands together, resting them on his forehead. "What did he say?"

 

"Nothing yet. I don't even know if he remembers." Keith shifted to look at Hunk, his eyes tired. "What if he hates me?"

 

Hunk's face pulled into a frown as he patted Keith's hunched back. "No, no. Lance isn't like that. He wouldn't...hate anyone for feeling that way."

 

"But what about me?" Keith argued, weakly. "I'm his supposed 'rival'. Wouldn't that give him more of a reason to hate me?"

 

"Keith, I don't think Lance's 'rivalry' with you equates any sort of hatred," Hunk assured him. "No, it's more of his weird way of wanting to get closer to you. Believe it or not, Lance actually looks up to you a lot. So I guess the only way he thought of to get on your level and be closer to you was through competition. It's...kind of weird," Hunk explained, itching the back of his neck. It was a lot to process, but Keith nodded.

 

"Yea okay. So you don't think he would hate me if I was in love with him?"

 

Hunk gave him a warm smile. "Nah. I think you'll be fine. You should really probably get some rest though. In terms of Earth hours, it's probably pretty late." Keith was the luckiest guy in the world to have Hunk as a friend. He let himself be pulled into a hug before getting up.

 

"Hunk..." Keith started, looking down at his friend, who was still sitting on the couch. "Thank you. For listening, and everything else." A blush grew on Keith's face—he didn't often show any sentimentality towards his other paladins. And boy had he been dishing it out today. It made Keith exhausted.

 

"No problem, buddy," Hunk gave a small thumbs up. "Now go get some rest, I'm probably gonna go bug Pidge." He chuckled to himself before getting up as well and walking out of the room, leaving Keith by himself.

 

Keith wasn't panicking anymore, and Hunk was right. He was really tired–it had been a long day. With more composure than he had when he walked in, Keith left and walked to his room. When his head hit the pillow, he dozed off to the thought that everything might be alright.

 

\--

 

It had been two days since Lance was put in the healing pod. He still wasn't out. _Why was he taking so long?_ Keith thought as he sat in front of the healing pod, gazing upon Lance's resting face. He looked calm, at peace, with his arms hanging at his sides and his mouth hung open ever-so-slightly. Keith didn't try repressing the thought that Lance looked pretty. He imagined what would happen when Lance recovered and what he would say or do. The question racked Keith's brain of whether Lance would remember Keith's confession to him or not.

 

Keith had spend hours in that room over the time Lance had been in the healing pod, waiting for him to wake up. He would've been there for even longer at a time if it weren't for the other paladins pulling him out to train or just to get his mind off of Lance. Despite their attempts to distract him, Keith always ended up back here.

 

"Hey, Keith, wanna help me set up an Earth-time clock for the castle?" Keith's head snapped up as Pidge waltzed into the room. "It could really help us get our sleep schedules back on track."

 

"How would that work?" Keith argued lightly. "What, with all of the different timezones."

 

Pidge stretched her back. "Well, we don't need to include _all_ of the timezones. We all lived in the same one, we could just use that one."

 

Keith allowed himself to be distracted a bit. "Yea, but wouldn't it make more sense to go off of Arusian time and get used to that?"

 

"We're not on Arus anymore," Pidge countered. "If anything, we should adjust ourselves to Altean time standards. Though..." She trailed off. "Considering Altea is gone and so are all of its people, save for Allura and Coran..."

 

Keith shook his head, slumping back down and staring at Lance in the healing pod. "Eh, whatever. I'll pass. On making the clock thing." Pidge gave Keith a worried look–he tried to ignore it.

 

"Keith..." She sighed. "You need to get out of here, it's not healthy to stay in here worrying for so long. Lance will be fine, just give him some time." Pidge tilted her head and crossed her arms, looking at Keith expectantly.

 

They were both distracted by a soft sound coming from the healing pod behind Lance. His brain activity was picking up. Pidge and Keith, who had repositioned themselves to press their faces directly against the pod, made eye contact. Immediately they ran off, yelling for Coran.

 

Everyone on the ship had gathered in front of the healing pod now. Keith was pressed up against Hunk and Pidge as they analyzed Lance's face. "Well this is a good sign!" Coran piped up. "He should be awake soon, by the looks of it."

 

Keith immediately plopped down, cross-legged on the floor in front of the pod. "I'm staying right here, then!" He shouted.

 

Allura spoke up. "Remember, I have to examine him to make sure he's properly recovered after he leaves the pod, so don't get too excited." She smirked as Keith stared, gawking at her.

 

"I'm not–I'm not _excited_!" He protested. Keith shrunk in on himself, muttering, "I just wanna, see that he's okay." Pidge let out an audible 'aww' and Hunk patted his back as Keith's face heated up from embarrassment.

 

The healing pod suddenly made a loud hissing sound. Keith scrambled away hurriedly as the barrier disintegrated and Lance stumbled out. Hunk caught Lance as he fell forward, and Keith was a little disheartened cause _he wanted to be the one to cradle Lance in his arms_. Lance's eyes fluttered open and took in his surroundings. He proceeded to melt into Hunk's warmth and wrap his arms around him—Keith felt a pang of jealousy overcome him. Pidge and Shiro rushed over and joined the hug, Pidge turning to Keith and beckoning him to join, too. Keith's face flushed red as he nervously joined the group hug. This was way too sappy for him.

 

Amidst the hug Lance made eye contact with Keith for the first time. He gave him a tender smile, and Keith was overwhelmed with the way his heart seemed to swell in his chest.

 

When they separated and Allura whisked Lance away to the infirmary, Keith felt a bit lost. For the past two days he had been occupied by waiting for Lance to wake up. Now, he was awake, and Keith didn't know what to do. Well, now he was stressing about his next encounter with Lance. Pidge and Hunk had left to do their own thing, probably build that clock. Coran followed Allura and Lance to the infirmary. Shiro, however, stayed behind with Keith.

 

 

"Keith, are you still worried about something?" Shiro was annoyingly good at reading him. Keith turned with his arms crossed over his chest and looked up at him.

 

"I'm...I'm glad he's awake," Keith offered. He didn't like it when Shiro worried about him, he had enough on his mind already.

 

"That's not all, though, is it?" Shiro stepped closer to Keith. It was obvious he wanted him to open up to him about whatever was on his mind, but Keith was stubborn.

 

"It's fine, Shiro. I'm fine." Yea, that wasn't very convincing. Keith cringed at his inability to hide his feelings.

 

Shiro placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Is it about Lance?" He was prying a little, and Keith let him pry him open.

 

Keith tried to keep it vague and not info-dump on him. "Back during the mission, Lance and I kind of had a moment, and I said some things...and I don't know if he remembers anything or not." He looked up at Shiro's face–he was wearing a confused expression.

 

"I'm not sure if I understand completely," Shiro started, rubbing the back of his own neck. "Are you hoping he does remember or doesn't?"

 

That was...a very good question. Keith pondered on that for a bit before answering. "Honestly, it depends on how he feels about it." It was kind of hard talking about it when Shiro didn't even know what happened.

 

"Are you worried that it could impact our ability to form Voltron?" Shit. Keith hadn't even thought about that. Oh no, what if it did?? Shiro felt Keith tense up at that, and brought his other hand to Keith so that he was holding both of his shoulders. "Hey, hey. Don't worry about it!" He attempted to console Keith. "I'm sure that whatever it is, it won't affect Voltron. Lance is understanding, he wouldn't jeopardize his relationship with you if he knew what was at stake."

 

Keith hunched over at that. "I just feel like _I'm_ the one jeopardizing the relationship" Shiro's stare softened and he started rubbing circles into Keith's shoulders.

 

"Keith, Lance's feelings aren't your fault." Shiro spoke like he was about to go off on one of his mini-lectures. "There's a thing about power and responsibility. If you don't have power over something, then you aren't responsible for it. Lance is the only one who has power over his feelings, so you could never be responsible for something like that."

 

Keith took in Shiro's words of wisdom and nodded. He admitted it made him feel a bit better about his impending conversation with Lance. If there was even going to be one. If Lance didn't remember what happened, then he probably wouldn't have a reason to talk to Keith.

 

"Thanks Shiro," Keith mumbled, concentrating his gaze at Shiro's eyes. He froze. "Wait. Shiro, are you wearing _eyeliner_?"

 

Shiro's eyes widening and he burst into a coughing fit, shoving away from Keith. When he composed himself, he began his way out of the room. "Anyways, I'm gonna go train."

 

Keith yelled back at him over his shoulder, "I was going to say it looks good on you!" Geez. How did he even get his hands on that stuff?? They were literally floating in space.

 

\--

 

Later, Keith decided to take a shower. Well, it was more like he was forced to take one after Pidge complained about him stinking. It was nice though. Keith had been busy stressing, so it was nice to let himself calm down and feel the warm water run down his back. It soothed all of his pent up negative emotions and calmed his mind. When he got out of the shower, Pidge and Hunk determined that it was nighttime in their Earth timezone, and declared it bedtime. Keith accepted this–he felt relaxed enough to go to sleep.

 

After he had dressed himself in his comfy Altean pajamas, he was about to go to bed when there was a knock on his bedroom door. Keith hesitated before opening the door, and found Lance on the other end. Lance was also in his Altean pajamas. He looked... _cute_.

 

Keith stood dumbfounded in his doorway when Lance spoke—it was the first time he had heard him speak in two days and Keith was dying to hear his voice. "Um. Allura said I'm recovered and good to go. Can I, uh, come in?" He didn't really sound like himself, his voice was almost timid-sounding. But Keith nodded and stepped away from the doorway to let Lance in.

 

He had thought about all the things he could say when he got an opportunity to talk to Lance, but now that he actually had that opportunity, Keith's mind was drawing a blank. He didn't know what to say when the door closed behind Lance as he wandered into his room, looking around at all of Keith's stuff strewn around the place. He looked nervous, which made Keith even more nervous than he already was.

 

"So, uh..." Keith tried to start a conversation, not knowing where he was going with it. "Did you sleep well?" He immediately regretted saying anything and buried his face in his hands. He heard Lance chuckle lightly.

 

When he looked up, Lance was shifting his feet nervously in front of him. "So...what happened? Like, on the mission. I was really out of it, and I don't remember much." Keith's heart dropped. He didn't remember. _He didn't remember_. He didn't feel relief like he thought he would. No, it just made him sad.

 

"Well, you got shot in the shoulder," Keith started.

 

"Uh yea, I got that part."

 

"And...I had to carry you back to the lion after the intel downloaded. I had to put you down at one point, though. Cause when I got to the lion there were a bunch of Galra ready to kick my ass, so I had to take care of that." Keith was purposefully skipping the part where he kissed him. "And then...yeah. We flew back to the castle."

 

Lance narrowed his eyes. "That's all...?" He crossed his arms and leaned closer towards Keith. Keith's face flushed and his heart leaped into his throat. What did he mean, _that's all??_

 

"Yeah, uh..." Keith struggles with his words. "That's everything really significant that happened." He shrugged and looked away from Lance's face.

 

"Huh, that's funny," Lance said, uncrossing his arms to put his hands in his pajama pockets. "Because I remember there was something else that happened." _Shit shit shit,_ Keith thought. Did he know...?

 

"Yea? What was that?" Keith forced out, hiding the panic that threatened to creep up and show itself. He wanted to scream.

 

"Yea, I remember getting attacked by another Galra. He fucked up my shoulder." Keith repressed the sigh of relief he wanted to let out.

 

"Oh yea," Keith laughed nervously. "Forgot to mention that."

 

"Uh huh, I also remember you kissed me and told me you loved me."

 

What.

 

Keith's eyes blew wide as he felt his blood run cold. Fuck. Keith felt light-headed and his knees felt weak. Oh my god he was in so much trouble, _what was he going to say to that???_ Keith was certain he was going to die. Either at Lance's hands or from the sickly feeling he felt all over his body.

 

Lance continued, "Why didn't you mention that? Did you forget that, too?" Keith peeked up at Lance's face. Uh oh, he looked angry. His arms were crossed again and he was leaning even closer to Keith, grimacing.

 

"No! I didn't forget," Keith finally said. He was shaking, but he tried not to let it show in his voice. "I just...didn't know if you remembered, and..." He huffed a breath out of his nose and made eye contact with Lance. "I was scared of what you would say."

 

Lance's glare softened, and he leaned away from Keith a little bit. "Well, did you mean it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

"...Mean what?"

 

"Mean what you said!" Lance raised his voiced slightly, then lowered it again. "That you love me." His shoulders slackened, and his face transformed from angry-looking to searching. Keith couldn't read it.

 

Keith gulped down his fears and decide to take his chances. "What would you do if I did?" Keith was sweating as he looked at Lance expectantly. Lance looked surprisingly calm in response to that, and he started walking towards him. Keith started freaking out, his impulse to escape whatever was coming for him. But there wasn't much space to work with considering the size of his room and _oh my god oh my god he was getting closer what was he gonna do—_

 

Keith squeezed his eyes shut as he braced for whatever was about to happen. He was surprised when he felt a hand caress his jaw and soft lips on his own. Keith slowly opened his eyes to see that _Lance was kissing him._ And Keith melted into it, letting himself wrap his arms around Lance's waist. Lance used his other hand to snake its way into Keith's hair, and Keith sighed into the kiss. His heart was soaring and he was in a state of just pure _bliss_.

 

He didn't want it to end, and when Lance pulled away Keith couldn't help but let a whine escape his lips. Lance was looking at him like he was the key to the universe. "Uh...that." And all Keith could do was stare at him, awestruck. Lance tensed up as his eyes darted nervously around the room. "Because, I-I feel the same way. Meaning I love you too and I—" Keith interrupted him by returning the kiss, and he could feel Lance smile against his mouth as he wrapped his arms around Keith's torso. He was so happy. Lance loved him. _Lance loved him._

 

They pulled apart again, but Lance still held onto him and stared lovingly at his face. Keith cleared his throat, "So, does this mean we should start..."

 

"Dating? Absolutely. If you're up for that, I mean," Lance finished. He looked curiously at Keith after making his offer. Keith just chuckled and watched the red color creep up on Lance's cheeks.

 

"Yea, I'm up for that," Keith said, smiling, and pulled Lance into a tender hug. Lance squeezed back and buried his nose in Keith's hair.

 

"Your laugh is cute, you should do that more often," Lance mumbled into his hair. Keith practically giggled into Lance's shirt, he was so giddy with overwhelming happiness. He felt the vibrations of Lance's own laugh against his cheek as he pressed it up to his chest.

 

Keith sighed. "I love you." It was so nice to say that.

 

"I love you too." It was even nicer to hear it.

 

Keith pulled away to look at Lance, his curiosity compelling him. "Wait, how long have you felt that way?" Lance blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

 

"Since, like, the Garrison, dude," he replied. "I've been holding on to these feelings for awhile. When you kissed me, back during the mission, I honestly thought I imagined it."

 

"Seriously?" Keith gawked at him. "What made you like me back at the Garrison??"

 

"Are you kidding me?" Lance cried. "You were so cool! I mean, you were the top of your class as a fighter pilot. I watched you fly once and I was head over heals!"

 

Keith laughed at that and buried his face into Lance's chest, wrapping his arms around him to caress his back. He relished in his ability to express his love as Lance's warmth enveloped him. It had been a long time since Keith had felt this happy, and he loved it. He loved this. So much. The way Lance hummed into his hair and idly rocked them back and forth. The way his heart soared with happiness. The way he and Lance seemed to fit together so effortlessly like puzzle pieces.

 

Lance was with him. He was with Lance. And nothing could be better.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this might have turned out a bit ooc, I'm still trying to figure out how to write the characters.


End file.
